Event Ideas

db0 · Sep 1, 2010

After recent discussions, I decided to start thinking of event ideas, especially common events, that we can implement in the future into Dune Wars.

My master thought collection is here: https://wave.google.com/wave/waveref/googlewave.com/w+XMqtelUhC

EDIT: I just found that Gwave is being discontinued. I'm going to port the master list below. Might take a bit to fix the format

Spoiler Guidelines :

Some rules of brainstorming:

Defer judgement: Dont dismiss any ideas. Nothing can kill the spirit of a brainstorm quicker.
Encourage wild ideas: The whole point of brainstorming is to come up with new and creative ideas.
Combine and improve ideas: No buts, only ands.
Go for quantity: Aim for as many new ideas as possible.

Dune Wars suggestion and links for event brainstorming:

In particular, we should think about Themes from the Dune universe that we want to highlight in events.
Like water shortage, religion as a tool of control, tradition vs reform, the Triumvirate of Emperor, Landsraad and Guild.
And we should create a set of events that highlight the special advantage of each faction by giving them a superior option; we should do this for every event.
We could also do it for leader traits, perhaps? I could imagine Charismatic or Religious or Financial leaders having extra event options, for example.

Some suggestion on what kind of events to have here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=9545707&postcount=7
The events included in the Vanilla Civ are here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=236727

Some other themes that might work:

In the early game: discovering technological remnants that give you a single more advanced unit (possibly that starts with the Poorly Maintained promotion).
Getting a contingent of soldiers from an allied house from offworld.
Having an assassin offer their services (create a Sardaukar Operative unit).
Having CHOAM audit your spice operation.
A wandering preacher from the desert arrives (do you let him speak, have him killed, offer him a position in your service?)
Water raiders (create the -water building in city X for Y turns)
Finding a water cache, or spice cache.
A mass of sandworms showing up in a big spice patch (create 4 sandworm units).
A sandstorm that destroys some improvements (sink tiles immune).
A new source of groundwater discovered.
An offworld ally requests assistance: give money or lose culture/influence.
The Houses Minor.
Another theme that would be really cool to highlight; deathstills, and Fremen rendering the water of the dead

Suggested Guidelines

No-Choice events should be positive (i.e. grant the person something)
If an event is negative, it should provide options to allow the player to choose how it affects them (do you want to lose money, water or happiness). This way they can select the least harmful option.
Events should reward player choices (Faction, Leader Traits, Civics etc)
Events should have some flavour which hints at a living world outside their borders.

A good negative event imho is like this

Negative Event Sample

Option one: Moderate harmful effect (eg Lose some money)
Option two: Alternative moderate harmful effect (eg Lose moderate amount of culture)
Option Three [Particular Faction only]: Make event pretty harmless (eg Unit loses a turn)
Option Four [Particular Civic Only]: Make event slightly beneficial (eg Gain a new improvement)

This way, in a negative event, players both have the opportunity to choose how it affects them, and if they have a particulr civic or faction, they get to feel special for their choices

I'm adding some artwork/rules from events in the CCG. This can provide some ideas. If you think of an event to go with the name/art add it below it.

Spoiler Rare Events :

Spoiler Common Events :

Spoiler Work In Progress :

The spoilers above will keep being updated as more ideas are added in the thread.

Ahriman · Sep 1, 2010

Great job, lots of interesting stuff here.

Water Riot

I like the concept, but I don't think beer works. Its too narrow to have the city in starvation; this is very rare.
Also, what do you mean by "city becomes stagnant for 2 turns"?
I'd change to:
"The situation in <cityname> has taken a turn for the worse. Thirsty people are rioting for water."
1. "Purchase enough from the Water Sellers to prevent disaster." -100 gold.
2. "Let the rabble sort it out for themselves." City goes into anarchy for 2 turns.
3. "We should have sufficient water to share: make our personal supply available." Requires polar ice resource. reduces stored water by 50%.
4. "This is unacceptable. Disperse the mob by force." Permanent +1 unhappy in the city.

Guild Stockpiling

Guild Surplus

The Guild referred to by the card is the Spacing Guild.
A spice miners guild is a labor union. I don't think it would make sense for them to stockpile spice, I don't think they could legally do so.
I don't really see these options working well either; losing all income from spice (could be half your economy) or increasing it 40% is just too much.
Messing with Landing zones doesn't do anything either; once they're constructed, all they do is give the trade route bonus. The resource comes from a Contract building. And I don't think removing these contracts temporarily would be very much fun, and it would be very messy.

How about instead:
Spice market boom:
"An unexpected increase in spice demand has temporarily raised the market price of spice. Could someone be stockpiling?"
Add a temporary building to the capital of every civ that adds an extra +1 commerce per spice resource, for 10 turns.

Spice market bust:
"Surplus spice production has temporarily depressed the market price of spice."
Add a temporary building to the capital of every civ that adds -1 commerce per spice resource, for 10 turns.

Smuggler Activity

I like the idea, but the effects are too broad and complex. Its hard to change city maintenance through events, and its hard to call "all cities with harvester improvements", since improvements are not actually a property of a city.
Much easier to trigger the event on a tile within your territory that has a spice resource and a harvester.
"Reports indicate that smugglers are harvesting spice near <cityname>."
1. "Ignore them, I have more important concerns." Spice resource is removed on the tile where the event is triggered.
2. "Send troops to secure the operation." -30 gold.
3. "This will not stand. Attack the smugglers!" Create barbarian vulture thopter and suspensor gunship on the tile.
4. "Convince the smugglers to work for us." Requires Ecaz civ. Gain a free smuggler unit in <cityname>.

Assembly of Lords

Seems good to me.

Coriolis Storm

I'd tweak it slightly. Otherwise 2 is clearly superior to 1.
"A Coriolis storm is bearing down on our forces."
1. "Try and out run the storm, to get to safety." 50% chance unit destroyed, 50% chance no effect.
2. "Hunker down and wait it out." Unit takes 50% damage.
3. "Meld into the sand my brothers." Requires Fremen. Unit loses next turn.

Insect infestation

Seems a bit dull.
If we're going to have an agricultural thing, why don't we make it affect imported crops like cereals?
I could imagine events that create or remove one of these exotic crops (blight).

db0 · Sep 1, 2010

Good thoughts. I don't have much to argue except a few bits.

I like the concept, but I don't think beer works.

heh, I'm trying to insert some humor in the events as well. This was supposed to be a paraphrase of "Let them eat cake"

Also, what do you mean by "city becomes stagnant for 2 turns"?

Stagnant is the situation a city is in when it's neither growing nor starving (The food bar displays "stagnant". I thought that since you support the people via imported water, the water supplies won't go down. But perhaps this is trickier to code in which case the ideas below are an easier implementation.

The Guild referred to by the card is the Spacing Guild.

D'oh! You are right, of course.

How about instead:
Spice market boom:
"An unexpected increase in spice demand has temporarily raised the market price of spice. Could someone be stockpiling?"
Add a temporary building to the capital of every civ that adds an extra +1 commerce per spice resource, for 10 turns.

Spice market bust:
"Surplus spice production has temporarily depressed the market price of spice."
Add a temporary building to the capital of every civ that adds -1 commerce per spice resource, for 10 turns.

I thought we were going to multiple-choice events. Are single choice ones also good to have? In that case I have a lot more ideas to add

Incidentally, the above was closer to my initial idea but I was trying to figure out a way to make them multiple-choice, which is why I involved the Landing zones.

I like the ideas above as well, but having events which involve the Spacing Guild could also be interesting and hint to the existence of stuff outside the world, and how much spice affects them. I think a few events being triggered only when you have a landing zone built would also be fun. I'll cook something up.

Seems a bit dull.
If we're going to have an agricultural thing, why don't we make it affect imported crops like cereals?
I could imagine events that create or remove one of these exotic crops (blight).

I don't follow. The idea was to have an event that has a chance to create an exotic resource (those insect resources. Don't remember their name).

Also all common events might be a bit dull because they're not very powerful. They're mostly to add some flavour. I reserve the powerful effects for the rare ones. I took ideas from the FFH2 event ideas thread where some very simply ones were also proposed (Don't know if they were selected in the end of course)

Ahriman · Sep 1, 2010

Are single choice ones also good to have?

Yes. There should be a mix of both.

The idea was to have an event that has a chance to create an exotic resource

The insect resources are not exotic to Arrakis; they are native.
"Exotic" in an agricultural/forestry sense means non-native plants.
My idea was: the native plants and insects are designed to suit Dune's climate.
The exotic imports (cereals, coffee) aren't; they're much more likely to suffer from shocks.

Also all common events might be a bit dull because they're not very powerful. They're mostly to add some flavour. I reserve the powerful effects for the rare ones.

I think that all events should be mostly for flavor, and that we should not have any really powerful events. Remember that, unlike most mods, players won't be able to turn Events off without messing up core gameplay mechanics.

Ahriman · Sep 1, 2010

I think we should also link this post into the thread: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=9545707&postcount=7
Lots of ideas here.

In particular, we should think about Themes from the Dune universe that we want to highlight in events.
Like water shortage, religion as a tool of control, tradition vs reform, the Triumvirate of Emperor, Landsraad and Guild.

And we should create a set of events that highlight the special advantage of each faction by giving them a superior option; we should do this for every event.
We could also do it for leader traits, perhaps? I could imagine Charismatic or Religious or Financial leaders having extra event options, for example.

Events might also be an interesting way of playing up Paradise vs Spice issues. We toyed a long time ago with the Guild transporting soldiers to sabotage terraforming; this is easily accomplished with events that trigger only on grassland tiles that create barbarian units (with the raider promotion perhaps?).

db0 · Sep 1, 2010

Ok, I've made some changes as to your suggestions.

The insect resources are not exotic to Arrakis; they are native.

Misunderstanding. When I said "exotic", I meant a non-empty tile. I.e. this is an event which will simply grant the player a new insect resource in the tile (If they have the appropriate technology).
If you don't, you either lose a bit of gold or a bit or growth.

My idea was: the native plants and insects are designed to suit Dune's climate.
The exotic imports (cereals, coffee) aren't; they're much more likely to suffer from shocks.

That is also a good idea, but there's no reason we can't have both

I'm still not very familiar with the mod though, do people find exotic resources around the world as normal or is there another mechanic at work? Which resources are the exotic ones?

db0 · Sep 1, 2010

Ahriman said:
I think we should also link this post into the thread: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=9545707&postcount=7
Lots of ideas here.

In particular, we should think about Themes from the Dune universe that we want to highlight in events.
Like water shortage, religion as a tool of control, tradition vs reform, the Triumvirate of Emperor, Landsraad and Guild.

And we should create a set of events that highlight the special advantage of each faction by giving them a superior option; we should do this for every event.
We could also do it for leader traits, perhaps? I could imagine Charismatic or Religious or Financial leaders having extra event options, for example.

Events might also be an interesting way of playing up Paradise vs Spice issues. We toyed a long time ago with the Guild transporting soldiers to sabotage terraforming; this is easily accomplished with events that trigger only on grassland tiles that create barbarian units (with the raider promotion perhaps?).

All good ideas. The good thing with the Google Wave format I chose is that it's easy to update and modify the existing ideas. I'm going to keep pumping them out, even as simple ones and then more knowledgeable people of the world and the mod can tweak them to perfection

For example, I may post many ideas which don't have something special for any faction, simply because I am not very familiar with all of them, but as with the smugglers example, the idea immediately came to you to relate them to the Ecaz

So I'd say not to worry too much about guidelines until we have at least a good bunch of event ideas. In fact, I think I'm going to start just writing some Event Titles and a basic concept and then figure out if there's a way to make them into a good event, and if I can't, perhaps someone else will get the idea instead.

Water Seller's Monopoly
The Water Sellers are not happy that their monopoly is challenged by houses having their own operation in the pole.

Spice Miner's Strike
Recent events have forced the hand of the Miner's Union which is now refusing to work.

etc.

Ideas feed ideas so to speak. The more we pump out, the more it inspires others to be creative in turn and build upon the ideas of others.

db0 · Sep 1, 2010

I've updated the Wave with more ideas and some of the suggestion guidelines.

Ahriman · Sep 1, 2010

The good thing with the Google Wave format I chose is that it's easy to update and modify the existing ideas.

I think it might be easier to use this forum than elsewhere.

I would add all the ideas inside Spoiler tags in the first post in this thread, and keep editing them there as you update ideas.

That way, its easier for other developers and fans to see what is happening and make suggestions in this thread.

Another great way to do events is to reference particular events from the books.
For example:
"While touring Spice harvesting operations by 'thopter near <cityname>, you come across a harvester whose carryall is nowhere to be found. A worm approaches!"
1. "Save as many of the crew as we can. It is men that matter, there is always more spice."
Permanent +1 happy in <cityname>
2. "Save the spice, the crew can be replaced." +50 gold.
3. "Save as much equipment as we can. With enough equipment, we can harvest more spice." +40 hammers in <cityname>

Another theme that would be really cool to highlight; deathstills, and Fremen rendering the water of the dead.

Ahriman · Sep 1, 2010

We can also improve the flavor of the religions using Events.

eg:
Rage against the machine
Requires: Automated factory or Computerized research lab present in <city>
"An angry mob has gathered, enraged that your technological innovations are testing
1. "Thou shalt not build a machine in the likeness of man. Let the mob vent their rage." Destroy the factory or research lab.
2. "Technology is but a tool, we must use every advantage we can. Protect the equipment at all costs." -1 population in <city>. +1 permanent unhappy in <city>
3. "Assure the public there is nothing to fear." No effect. Requires Charismatic trait.
4. "Our House's prosperity rests on innovation and development. The public must realize this." No effect. Requires House Ix civilization.

Trade expansion.
Requires: city with CHOAM religion. Requires offworld trade tech.
"Trade is the lifeblood of the galaxy, and CHOAM is the center of all trade. CHOAM seeks to expand its profits by constructing a new spaceport in <cityname>.
Adds a spaceport to <cityname>.

Alternatively, have it add a CHOAM outpost or directorship, or a landing stage.

We could have similar events that boost happiness and influence in Imperial cities, that boost water production in Shai-Hulad, that extinguish all other religions in Qizarate, that add a bunch of free zealots to Mahdi.

db0 · Sep 1, 2010

Ahriman said:
I think it might be easier to use this forum than elsewhere.

I would add all the ideas inside Spoiler tags in the first post in this thread, and keep editing them there as you update ideas.

That way, its easier for other developers and fans to see what is happening and make suggestions in this thread.

This would mean that nobody would be able to assist in editing, even if they wanted to. I will be the only one who would be able to update the master list.

Both options are just one click away, with the difference that the Gwave requires a few secs of loading

Also, the Gwave has the very good benefit of being able to add comments inside the main content. Just right click anywhere and "Add comment". All those ideas that you've mentioned, where you had to quote the sections, can be done under each idea directly. This way, people browsing the ideas can see the discussion that happened for it immediately and they do not have to go through a huge thread

I've added some to point out how this can work. Obviously a whole discussion is better than a link to a forum. For example, I added you idea about boosts along with a comment for future ideas.

Also, I was itching for an opportunity to try out Gwave for something that it's useful.

davidlallen · Sep 1, 2010

Gwave seems like an interesting idea, except it requires a Chrome plugin to view. I am a little suspicious to add new plugins, so I will probably follow the discussion on the forum only. YMMV.

db0 · Sep 1, 2010

davidlallen said:
Gwave seems like an interesting idea, except it requires a Chrome plugin to view. I am a little suspicious to add new plugins, so I will probably follow the discussion on the forum only. YMMV.

Huh? I didn't know it required a plugin. For Firefox it doesn't need one.

Ahriman · Sep 1, 2010

This would mean that nobody would be able to assist in editing, even if they wanted to. I will be the only one who would be able to update the master list.

I will gladly keep a master list in my first post in this thread.

But these are just ideas; anything final would have to be made by whoever was actually going to code events - probably David or Deliverator, if anyone.

So I think a Master list is not so important; anyone coding events will probably just look through suggestions in this thread to pick out their favorite/easiest to implement ideas.

db0 · Sep 1, 2010

davidlallen said:
Gwave seems like an interesting idea, except it requires a Chrome plugin to view. I am a little suspicious to add new plugins, so I will probably follow the discussion on the forum only. YMMV.

I just downloaded Chrome and checked. Didn't ask me for a plugin :-/

Did you perhaps try to view it with Internet Exploder or Opera? If so, that is likely to be problematic but you can still go ahead and try to see it (There's a link on the bottom)

I will gladly keep a master list in my first post in this thread.

It's a duplicate effort to tell you the truth.

So I think a Master list is not so important; anyone coding events will probably just look through suggestions in this thread to pick out their favorite/easiest to implement ideas.

This is true, which is why I'm not so bothered in tweaking ideas to the exact decimal for balance or anything. However a master list is useful to have an overview of all the ideas that have been proposed.

davidlallen · Sep 1, 2010

db0 said:
Did you perhaps try to view it with Internet Exploder or Opera? If so, that is likely to be problematic but you can still go ahead and try to see it

Yes, IE is the browser I use. Plugging in Chrome to IE, to see a Gwave page, seems complicated.

db0 · Sep 2, 2010

Added some more events. There's a new type I'm creating based on previous suggestions.

Spoiler :

I have a problem in that I can't remember the name of the units, buildings, promotions and the technologies and thus I can't write the correct descriptions. I know that they exist but I can't remember what they are called. There isn't somewhere outside the game where I might get a look into Dune War's civilopedia is there?

Yes, IE is the browser I use. Plugging in Chrome to IE, to see a Gwave page, seems complicated.

Problem is that IE is just not a good browser and it does not follow the web standards and new technology to the necessary extent.

Ahriman · Sep 2, 2010

A cache of crysknives

I'm not sure that this unit concept works. What makes a Crysknife fighter or any of the other Fremen elite units isn't just the weapon, its the training and lifestyle. In particular, these units are all wormriders. It would feel very wrong to me if say Harkonnens came across a bunch of crysknives and this somehow let them get a military unit that could ride sandworms.

A cache of lasguns

I like this one. I'd still put a minimum tech requirement on it to avoid it being *too* overpowering. The tech for Maula guardsmen at least.

There isn't somewhere outside the game where I might get a look into Dune War's civilopedia is there?

Nope, sorry.
I forget a lot of the details too sometimes without my version.

Problem is that IE is just not a good browser

I don't think that people are going to change browser just to collaborate on this.
Much easier to keep it all in this thread.

db0 · Sep 2, 2010

Ahriman said:
I'm not sure that this unit concept works. What makes a Crysknife fighter or any of the other Fremen elite units isn't just the weapon, its the training and lifestyle. In particular, these units are all wormriders. It would feel very wrong to me if say Harkonnens came across a bunch of crysknives and this somehow let them get a military unit that could ride sandworms.

Well, this option IS only for Fremen after all, and all their melee fighters are wormriders anyway

I like this one. I'd still put a minimum tech requirement on it to avoid it being *too* overpowering. The tech for Maula guardsmen at least.

In that case it would have to become a rare event I believe. I don't know if a 10 STR guardsman at the early game will be so overpowering, but another option (to keep with the theme) would be to have a special promotion to go with this unit which cuts its power by 50% (thus you get a 6 STR unit which is manageable)

db0 · Sep 2, 2010

I just found a good list of the events included in vanilla Civ4:BtS. I'm going to use them as a starting point for some more common events

Event Ideas

Bane of Misoids

Tyrant

Bane of Misoids

Tyrant

Tyrant

Bane of Misoids

Bane of Misoids

Bane of Misoids

Tyrant

Tyrant

Bane of Misoids

Deity

Bane of Misoids

Tyrant

Bane of Misoids

Deity

Bane of Misoids

Tyrant

Bane of Misoids

Bane of Misoids

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